China says top military official suspended, placed under investigation

Probe into Miao Hua comes arsenic China slams earlier reports of probe into defence curate arsenic ‘slanderous’.

China has suspended a high-ranking subject authoritative suspected of “serious violations of discipline”, the latest successful a bid of elder figures targeted successful a widening crackdown connected corruption successful the equipped forces.

The Ministry of Defence said connected Thursday that Miao Hua, manager of the governmental enactment section connected the almighty Central Military Commission that oversees the People’s Liberation Army, was being investigated for disciplinary breaches, commonly work arsenic a euphemism for corruption.

The governing Communist Party “has decided to suspend Miao Hua from work pending investigation”, ministry spokesperson Wu Qian told a quality briefing.

Wu did not supply further details astir the charges against Miao, 1 of 5 high-ranking officials connected the committee that oversees the subject and is headed by President Xi Jinping.

Xi’s run against corruption has focused successful the past twelvemonth connected the equipped forces, with astir 20 subject and defence manufacture officials removed since 2023, arsenic good arsenic defence ministers.

Wu, the spokesperson, besides criticised media reports that Defence Minister Dong Jun had been placed nether probe for corruption.

British paper The Financial Times reported connected Wednesday that Dong, who oversaw a caller thaw successful subject ties betwixt China and the United States, had been caught up successful the country’s sweeping anticorruption purge, quoting existent and erstwhile US officials acquainted with the situation.

“The rumour mongers are ill-intentioned. China expresses its beardown dissatisfaction with specified slanderous behaviour,” Wu told reporters successful a nonstop notation to the FT report.

China’s erstwhile Defence Minister Li Shangfu astatine the 20th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue successful Singapore anterior to his disappearance from nationalist presumption [File: Caroline Chia/Reuters]

While reports connected the probe into Dong stay unconfirmed, 2 different defence ministers person been caught successful the anticorruption dragnet.

Dong’s predecessor, Li Shangfu, was removed after 7 months into the job, and past expelled from the Communist Party, for offences that included bribery, according to authorities media. He has not been seen successful nationalist since.

Li’s predecessor, Wei Fenghe, was besides kicked retired of the enactment aft serving successful the station from 2018 to 2023, and referred to prosecutors for alleged corruption.

A Communist Party connection astatine the clip said the brace “betrayed the spot of the enactment and the Central Military Commission, earnestly polluted the governmental situation of the military, and caused large harm to … the representation of its elder leaders”.

They were recovered to person received immense sums of wealth successful bribes and to person “sought unit benefits” for others, it said.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies